Dressing of hair



' hair.

Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRESSING OF HAIRWilliam F. Luckenbach, West Collingswood, N. 3.,

asslgnor to Riihm allaas Company, Philafl phla, Pa.

No Drawing. Application April 4, 1940,

Serial No. 327,744

2 Claims. (01. 16 7.-87.1)

This invention relates to improved methods and compositions for holdinghair in desired forms.

Many kinds of preparations for setting waves or curls in human hair havebeen proposed. Most of such preparations have been based on stickyormucilaginous substances with the natural gums tending to displaceother materials, because they are more readily applied and are freerfrom disadvantages. Yet the natural gums do not possess all the desiredand required properties for a successful wave-set or for a preparationto hold human hair in any desired form. They are usually insuflicientlyeffective in very thin layers, lack adhesion, flake oil, dry hard andturn white,

discolor the hair, impart to some degree an unproperties which interferewith proper application. Gelatine dries to a brittle stage which rendershair wire-like and stiff. Furthermore, thoroughly dried protein filmsbecome flaky and do not regain moisture readily.

It is an object of this invention to provide compositions which may bereadily applied to human hair and which are free from the disadvantagesof the sticky or mucilaginous substances heretofore used. It is anobject to shape and set hair with a minimum amount of coating materialand c.

with the minimum of chemical attack on the It is also an object toprovide compositions and methods for treating hair and at the same timefor givinghair a neat and wellgroomed appearance.

These objects are attained in a highly satisfactory manner by applyingto hair a thin deposit or coatingwila water-soluble, polymeric,

acrylic acid derivative from a solution thereof. After an aqueoussolution of the polymeric material is applied to hair by brushing,combing, spraying, or similar procedure, the hair is shaped as desiredand dried leaving thereon a thin, transparent, colorless, flexible film,which is highly adhesive yet free from tackiness.

It has been found that the water-soluble, polymeric, acrylic acidderivatives possess properties which make them particularly suitable forthis use. These derivatives on hair impart thereto a degree ofhygroscopicity which preserves flexibility, prevents excessive stiffnessand brittleness, avoids harshness and hardening of the coated hairs,keeps the deposit adherent and coherent so that flaking, powdering, anddiscoloration, particularly by the deposits turning Hydrogen peroxide,particularly in the presence white, do not result, and yet the hair isnot sticky and the deposit may easily be removed by washing with water.

The water-soluble, polymeric, amorphous acrylic acid derivatives whichare useful for dressing and setting hair include (a) the alkali, ammoniaand amine salts oi. the polymeric acrylic acids and the correspondingderivatives of polya-alkacrylic acids, such as polymethacrylic acid, (b)the water-soluble polymers of these esters and nitriles obtained byincomplete saponification or hydrolysis of polymeric acrylic anda-alkacrylic esters and amides, (c) mixtures 01. the polymeric salts andincompletely hydrolyzed polymers, and (d) water-soluble hydrolysis orsaponification products of copolymers of an acrylic derivative andanother polymerizable material, such as maleic acid, styrene, vinylacetate or other vinyl compound, etc. These various derivatives arepolymerized sufiiciently to prevent crystallization, thereby holdingthem in an amorphous form. They are prepared so as to be free fromeither excess alkaline or excess acidic materials and, hence, aresubstantially neutral. The compounds meeting these various requirementsare summarized by the expression watersoluble, amorphous, polymeric,acrylic acid derivatives.

The water-soluble, polymeric acrylic acid derivatives are mostconveniently handled in the form of aqueous pastes or solutions. In theactual application to hair there are used solutions containing fromabout 0.1% to about 2% of the polymeric derivatives, in addition towhich there may be used dyes 'or tints to give the preparation adistinctive color, perfumes, softeners, such as glycerine, lubricants orconditioners, such as olive oil, cetyl alcohol, or lanolin, apreservative, such as the methylester of hydroxybenzoic acid, etc. Theremay also be incorporated in a solution some of a natural gum, such astragacanth, karaya, etc., the disadvantages of which are largely ofisetby the polymeric acrylic acid derivative.

Similarly, there'may be added a hair or scalp medicant or antisepticsuch as quinine, a quinine salt, cantharides, capsicum, thymol,resorcinol, resorcinol monoacetate, sulfur, boric acid, salicylic acid,etc. There may also be added a small amount of alcohol, particularly tocarry the medicant, but the amount of such should not be over 10% if thedeleterious effect of the alcohol is to be avoided.

Instead of a medicant there may be used an active material such as ableaching agent.

of ammonia or an ammonium salt, such as ammonium carbonate, is asatisfactory agent of this type. Here it is generally desirable to use aconditioner to protect and soften the hair.

Preparations of this type have the dual function of producing a lightercolor in the hair and holding the hair in a desired form. Suchpreparations have advantages in improved conditions of application andmore efficient utilization of the bleaching agent.

There may be used in conjunction with the water-soluble, amorphous,polymeric acrylic acid derivatives, chemicals which are recognized as ofvalue in the permanent waving of hair, particularly ammonium salts, bothorganic such as morpholine, diethanolamine, etc., and inorganic such asammonium carbonate, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfite, or otherthermally decomposable salt, usually with such alkaline materials asborax, potassium or sodium carbonate, etc. and, if desired, a sulflte,such as potassium It is general practise in this type of waving solutionto incorporate with the above materials a conditioner, by which term ismeant an oily, greasy, or waxy material to soften the hair and protectit from the harshness of alkaline ma- There may be used as a typicalconcentrated aqueous paste one containing about solids derived fromacrylic nitrile by reaction with a dilute solution of sodium hydroxidein an amount less than equivalent to the nitrile. One part of this pasteis diluted with ten to fourteen parts of water to yield a solutionsuitable for giving hair a rather stiff set. Such a solution is usefulin overcoming natural curl or kinkiness in hair.

One part of the concentrated paste with about nineteen to thirty-nineparts of water gives suitable solutions for so-called finger waves.

Example 2 One part of the 5% concentrate is diluted with five to tenparts of water. A small amount of a water-soluble tint is added and0.01% of isooctylhydroxybenzyldimethylamine citrate as a preservative.The resulting solution is useful in barber shops for combing into hairto keep it in place and for presenting a neat appearance withoutimparting to hair a greasy eifect.

Example 3 To ten parts of the preparation of Example 2 there is addedone part of a 9% solution of ammonium hydroxide. Just before thispreparation is applied to the hair three parts of a 3% solution ofhydrogen peroxide is added and thoroughly stirred in. The preparation isthen applied to human hair as a combined bleach and wave-set.

Example 4 A preparation suitable for use in permanent waving was madefrom one part of the 5% paste shown in the above examples and two partsof water which contained 0.15 part of monoethanolmonium compounds amineand 0.15 part of ammonium carbonate and small amounts of water-solublecolors and perfumes. In compounding this preparation the water was addedto small increments with rapid and efllcient agitation and then warmedto about C. About 0.15 part of lanolin, which had previously been warmedto about 60 C., was added to the solution with rapid stirring and thepreparation passed through a homogenizer, cooled, and packed intocollapsible tubes or Jars.

The preparation is applied to hair and the treated hair is then dividedinto tresses, wound on bars, and heated to give it a permanent shape.The hair is then moistened, arranged in any desired form, and dried. Theforming and dressing of hair with a composition based on thewater-soluble, polymeric, amorphous acrylic derivatives may be performedaccording to practically any of the techniques which have been developedfor permanent waving of hair and with the many types of apparatus usedtherefor. The use of these new compositions simplifies the work andproduces a superior result. When only amare used, the procedure may beas simple as shown above.

Hair which has been treated with one of the above compositions holds fora long time the form or shape which has been given it. Because of thehygroscopic properties of the treated hair, as has been explained, thehair remains flexible and retains its normal luster and color. Thefilm-forming properties of the polymeric acrylic acid derivatives causea smoothness which is not attained with gums. The solutions possess aunique advantage in that they are somewhat thixotropic andpseudo-plastic so that they are easily worked into the hair and yet arequick to set without complete drying. They have the further advantage indrying of not passing through the sticky stage which makes many othermaterials very difflcult to apply properly. The watersoluble, polymericacrylic acid derivatives impart a high viscosity to solutions with arelatively low percentage of solids. The films which are deposited fromthese solutions are, therefore, relatively thin yet highly effective.This preserves a natural appearanceof the hair. These polymericmaterials have further advantages in control of material, uniformity,stability, and lack of odor.

I claim:

1. A hair shaping composition, which, when applied to human hair,produces a plastic mass to which may be imparted a desired form that isretained when the hair is dried, which composition deposits on the haira hygroscopic coating substantially free from flaking tendencies andtackiness, and which comprises an aqueous solution containing betweenabout 0.1% to 2% of a polymeric acrylic acid derivative.

2. The process of shaping human hair which comprises applying to saidhair an aqueous solution containing about 0.1% to 2% of a watersoluble,amorphous, polymeric acrylic acid derivative to form a plastic mass,working and shaping said mass into a desired form, and drying the shapedmass, thereby depositing upon the hair a thin coating which ishygroscopic and substantiallyfree from flaking tendencies and tackiness.

WILLIAM F. LUCKENBACH.

the concentrated paste in.

